News & Resources
Many refugees who flee their home countries due to persecution or violence are forced to make the difficult decision to leave behind loved ones in dangerous circumstances. To address this, Congress established the Follow-to-Join (FTJ) process allowing refugees and asylees to apply for their spouse and children to join them in the United States. Unfortunately, due to extensive backlogs in the FTJ system, the family reunification process can take years, leaving many families separated and unable to plan for their futures during an already traumatic time.
In addition to its in-house FOIA requests and delay litigation, IRAP has sought to expand its efforts to address delays in family reunification for refugees by referring separated families to our pro bono partners to pursue mandamus litigation, i.e., lawsuits that are brought in federal court to compel the government to perform its duties. IRAP provides training and mentorship to these partners on the FTJ process and mandamus litigation.
Impact
These cases have resulted in the reunification of over a dozen families and as well as helpful court decisions that hold the government accountable for delays in these and future family reunification processes. Some of these cases faced and survived a motion to dismiss with the district court rejecting the government’s argument that after years of inaction and delay, their post-lawsuit-filing action of moving the application to the next stage of processing rendered the claims moot.
IRAP is grateful to partner with Covington & Burling LLP, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP.